Ski jumping: The runner-up flyers: No Hannawald successor in 2024 either

Sweet and sour expression: Andreas Wellinger

Photo: dpa/Daniel Karmann

Sven Hannawald stood with his cell phone in the swirl of flakes in Bischofshofen and took a selfie with the award ceremony in the background. At the top of the podium: the Japanese Ryoyu Kobayashi. To his left is Andreas Wellinger with a pained smile. For the fifth time since 2016, a German ski jumper finished the Four Hills Tournament in second place overall. This meant that the “vice pilots” were unable to break the tour curse even 22 years after Hannawald’s last German overall victory.

»It’s like magic. Nevertheless, this time there is still a good feeling – because Andreas Wellinger has created moments for eternity. The ratings on TV were great, the two tour jumps in Germany were sold out, and 25,000 spectators sang along to the German national anthem when he won in Oberstdorf,” commented ski jumping legend Hannawald. »That was the best second place ever.«

But that couldn’t really console Andi Wellinger or the rest of the team. »Olympic gold, World Cup title: We have won everything you can win in the last ten years. Of course we dreamed of finally being at the top of the tour again. Now we have to fight for another year because someone came around the corner who was better,” said sports director Horst Hüttel.

After his opening victory in Oberstdorf and third place in the New Year’s competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, half-time leader Wellinger’s two fifth places in Innsbruck and the finale in Bischofshofen were not enough to stop Kobayashi, who was incredibly stable with four second places on the tour. The Japanese won the ski jumping Grand Slam as the first flyer in 25 years without a single day’s victory.

The German pilots haven’t tried everything in the past to break this tour curse. Former national coach Werner Schuster had his team imitate the entire ten days in the four tour locations once in the summer. This time there was a new team quarters for the first time at the start in Oberstdorf.

But in the hunt for the Golden Eagle, a lot went wrong at the start of the tour. The co-favorites Karl Geiger and Pius Paschke – both of whom had won World Cups immediately before the tour – were unable to cope with the pressure and had already fallen hopelessly behind in the tour standings in Oberstdorf. »Andi was alone at the front of our team very early on. And I know from the last few years how big this backpack is,” analyzed Karl Geiger, who ended up in a disappointing 14th place on the tour. Paschke only turned 20.

Wellinger was the only one from what was actually the strongest German team to get through since Hannawald’s triumph in 2002 – but his form curve was also pointing slightly downwards. »Kobayashi just answers most questions about the jumping with yes and no – and then he leaves. “Andi always had a huge program of interviews because we are so much in the spotlight at home,” said Horngacher, citing a detail as the reason for second place. Isolating even more from the public during the tour is still not an option for the future.

Andreas Wellinger himself also didn’t want to accept public pressure as an excuse: “I put most of the pressure on myself anyway – and the public’s interest is also a privilege. I actually managed to strike a good balance between tension and relaxation over the last ten days of the tour – I may have lacked a little lightness and luck in the two competitions in Austria. I didn’t make many mistakes, but there were just a few too many.” One has to acknowledge that Kobayashi was just a little bit better. In addition to the prize of 100,000 Swiss francs, the Japanese high-flyer collected his third Golden Eagle after 2019 and 2022 – after Markus Eisenbichler and Karl Geiger, Wellinger was the defeated DSV jumper this time. Kobayashi is still two overall wins short of the all-time record holder Janne Ahonen (Finland): “I’m ready to try.”

However, after his sweet and sour second place, Andreas Wellinger is more motivated than ever: “At some point you can’t stop us anymore. Hopefully we only have to wait another year.” Sven Hannawald believes that the German runners-up will give up their role as “eternal” tour runners-up: “I finally want to hand over my backpack and get a successor. After this tour, hope is greater than ever.«

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